Building Design Leaders Collaborating on Carbon-Neutral Buildings by 2030
The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Architecture 2030, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), and the U.S. Green Building Council, supported by representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, recently finalized a memorandum of understanding, establishing a common starting point and goal of net zero energy buildings. While focused on designing net zero energy buildings, the ultimate goal of the memorandum is carbon-neutral buildings by 2030. Carbon neutral buildings use no energy from external power grids and can be built and operated at fair market values. The building sector amounts for almost half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. annually and carbon neutral buildings reduce carbon emissions to help mitigate climate change, reduce independence on oil power, fuel imports and the use of fossil fuels, and provide a measure of energy security.
The Marketing Magic of Email
Email is the greatest marketing invention since the catalog, but many companies still don’t use it effectively. Chris Baggott, author of Email Marketing by the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level, offers some tips on email marketing. Here are seven tips from Baggott’s book:
• Stay out of the spam folder. The quantity of emails you send means nothing but the quality of your messages means everything.
• You have to get your recipients to act. An email’s success with your recipients is based on past behavior, relevancy, frequency and creative strength.
• Build a killer database. Collect email addresses for your database from online email collection, offline or by business-to-business networking.
• Find the best recipients. Segmentation is one of the most effective ways to boost engagement and prevent list fatigue.
• Use analytics that matter. Pay attention to your deliverability rates, open rates, click-through rates and unsubscribe rates, and you will know exactly what’s happening and why.
• Put your messages to the test.
Multivariate testing involves simultaneously testing several variables at once and measuring the net result.
• Ask for feedback. Almost every email you send should give the recipient a chance to answer a question or two.
Global Business in Today’s Market
As business becomes increasingly global, entrepreneurs must organize, plan, operate and execute in new ways. Tom Travis, author of Doing Business Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Going Global, defined basics you need to know to be a player in today’s business market. Here are keys to business success in the global market:
• Take advantage of trade agreements: think outside the border. Understand how trade agreements and preference programs impact your business.
• Protect your brand at all costs. Every global company must protect its international reputation by paying attention to the human rights and environmental practices of offshore facilities.
• Maintain high ethical standards. Your company must establish its own standards of acceptable conduct, communicate those standards to all trading partners and enforce them through internal monitoring systems.
• Stay secure in an insecure world. While security of cargo from theft and loss has always been of concern to global traders, the tragic events of 9/11 ushered in a new era of compliance with global security requirements.
• Expect the unexpected. You must be prepared to deal with situations that aren’t covered in traditional business plans, whether the event creates an opportunity or peril.